Coventry's legendary dragon slayer and his city birthplace are set to be thrust into the limelight with the launch of a new group.

The creation of the St George and Caludon Castle Society comes after a huge public response to the first St George's Day Dinner at the city's Hylands Hotel and after a flood of letters to the Evening Telegraph lamenting the condition of Wyken's Caludon Castle.

The Grade I listed medieval ruin is the legendary birthplace of England's patron saint and was destroyed during the English Civil War in the 1640s.

A group of city businessmen, including Gary Russell and Roy Palin, of Roy Palin Menswear in Cheylesmore, Coventry PR firm owner John Clarke and radio personality Stuart Linnell, have joined forces with like-minded people to start the group.

Mr Palin, who last year called for St George's Day on April 23 to become a national bank holiday, said it was only right to preserve the city's historic links.

He said: "It is a great idea. Here we are in Coventry and we need every bit of help we can get and here's something on our doorstep we can enlarge on."

Half the cash raised at the St George's Day dinner will help promote the society - the rest went to the NSPCC's Boole House centre in Whitefriars Street.

The group also wants to raise funds for a book on the history of the castle and hold fairs and battle reenactments.